HMA v DARYL SMITH

At the High Court in Edinburgh Lady Wise sentenced Daryl Smith to 4 years 6 months imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping a woman in Shetland in June 2011.

On sentencing Lady Wise made the following statement in court:

16 December 2013

“Daryl Smith, you have been convicted of charges 9 and 10 of the indictment, these were very serious charges of rape.

The circumstances of the offences involved you turning up at the home of a very young woman you had met before but who was not expecting you that night. She let you into her property because she had no reason at that stage not to trust you. You raped her on two occasions. Both incidents involved an element of force, with you pulling her trousers down in order to have sex with her against her will. The evidence disclosed that you had been drinking that evening and she had not. Whatever contact there had been between you prior to that evening, there was no suggestion that she had given you any indication that she would be willing to have sexual intercourse with you that night. You refused to leave her home when asked. It was clear that your victim was badly affected by the incident involving the two rapes both at the time and subsequently. Initially she sought refuge in the bathroom of her home. After you had left she contacted and went straight to the home of a close friend who witnessed her extreme distress at what had occurred. There was some evidence of bruising on this young woman as a result of your actions. It was clear from the manner in which she gave evidence that she continues to struggle to come to terms with what took place.

You continue to deny responsibility for these unlawful acts and claim that there was only one act of sexual intercourse and that it was consensual. However, even on your own account of the incident to the police, you accepted that you had been asked to stop at some point during a sexual act and that the young woman concerned had become upset and fled into the bathroom. The jury clearly rejected the suggestion that sex was consensual. You have sought to minimise the seriousness of your behaviour and seem to have little understanding of the impact your actions have had on your victim. It is of considerable concern that the recent Criminal Justice Social Work Report records that you continually referred to your victim in derogatory terms at interview.

However, I take into account that you have no analogous criminal convictions and that you have held positions of responsibility and of worth to the community, through the Territorial Army and the Lifeboat Service. You have also been undertaking an apprenticeship that would give you opportunities for skilled employment. The Criminal Justice Social Work Report assesses you as at the higher end of low risk of reoffending and you have good family support. While I have taken into account these factors and everything else said on your behalf by Mr McConnachie, I am of the view that a custodial sentence of reasonable duration is required to mark the seriousness of your behaviour and to act as a deterrent.

Daryl Smith, I sentence you to a cumulo sentence of four years and six months imprisonment in respect of charges 9 and 10.

The sentence that I have just imposed will be backdated to 19 November 2013. Since that date you have been subject to the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The clerk of court will shortly provide you with a further certificate in terms of that Act.”